Tiger Woods sits out again with U.S. Team trailing by 4 points

With the first major of year in the books it’s off to Hilton Head for decompressing at the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The iconic lighthouse, Calibogue Sound and smells from the low country boils will set the atmosphere around this event. Harbour Town Golf Links will serve as the host again as 132 players in an invitational field celebrating 50 years on TOUR will participate in a hit-and-giggle after the Masters. Er, not really. While the pressure of playing major championship golf is in the rear-view mirror for 31 players this week, the entire field will have to tackle this Pete Dye-Jack Nicklaus design with 500 FedExCup points and a prize pool of almost $7 million dollars on the line. Playing one yard short of 7,100 and to Par-71 (36-35), the winner will take home $1.26 million and doesn’t have to worry about his status on TOUR for the rest of this season and the next two. I’d suggest this is anything but an “off” week and that includes for gamers as well! As shown by the list of recent champions below there is hardly a pattern when it comes to picking winners. Trying to crack the code this week will present a challenge as this track has changed recently. This is event No. 2 at Harbour Town after Hurricane Matthew swept through in latter part of 2016. The course wasn’t damaged or the routing changed, but there were plenty of trees that didn’t survive and have not been replaced. The course now sees more sunshine and feels more wind and that increases the degree of difficulty as it can play firmer and faster. Brian Gay’s 2009 tournament record of 20-under-par is probably safe, regardless of coastal weather as benign wind won’t stop the sun from drying the place out. Troy Merritt, who’s not in the field this week, was the second man to post 61 in 2015 after David Frost in 1994. Similarly to Frost he did not win the tournament. TALES OF THE TAPE As we look back to look forward, the last three winners have been “firsts” at Harbour Town. Furyk picked up his first win since the 2010 TOUR Championship for his second victory at Harbour Town. Anytime Furyk wins an event the first thing that should spring to mind is accuracy matters. While it’s not THE determining factor this week, Furyk gives plenty of clues and what it takes to win. What isn’t listed above is that the weather was perfect and that’s the exception, not the rule at this event. Merritt’s 61 in Round 2 should have been a clue! Furyk, using lift-clean-and replace with the rest of the field, came from four shots off Merritt’s lead in the final round to force a playoff. The playoff was with Kevin Kisner, not Merritt, who closed with 64. Rounds 2, 3 and 4 ended up being the second, third and fourth-easiest rounds in the history of the event as Furyk joined the group of nine other multiple champions at this event. It was also Braden Grace’s first top 10 on the PGA TOUR. For the second year in a row, Grace checked off a first at Harbour Town as his victory was the first on TOUR for the South African. He entered the week, as 28 of the past 34 champions did, coming off the Masters experience (MC) and off a previous win earlier in the year. Grace flipped the Furyk script and used his power and a superb wedge game as he pounded Harbour Town with 66 in the final round. Similarly to Furyk he began the final round adrift, three shots behind Luke Donald’s 54-hole lead. Only John Senden went lower on Sunday (65) as not even a third of the field were in red figures. Grace’s winning score of 275 (-9) tied 2014 champion Graeme McDowell for the only single-digit winning total since 2005. Grace became the 11th first-time winner and 11th international winner as the wind gusts and cool temperatures kept scores up. In 48 previous events a South Carolinian had never slipped on the plaid jacket or collected the biggest check here. Rookie Wesley Bryan, born in Columbia, put an end to that streak with his first win on the PGA TOUR. Bryan became the first player since Carl Pettersson in 2012 to win without having played the Masters the week prior. This year, he won’t have that to worry about as his victory propelled him into the field last week where he MC. Bryan, like the two winners above him, had to climb out of a hole on Sunday as he trailed Jason Dufner by four shots before righting the ship. Bryan became the fifth consecutive winner to win while trailing by three or more shots in the final round. He was the 12th player to break his maiden on TOUR at this event and the second in a row. He became the first player and just sixth overall to win in his first attempt since Boo Weekley in 2007. The pressure is on in his first defense as he’ll be reminded no defending champion has MC since Davis Love III in 1993. NOTE: Golfers inside the top 25-ish in each statistic on the 2017-18 PGA TOUR are listed only if they are scheduled to compete this week. * – Finished inside the top 10 at RBC Heritage since 2013 or is a former champion. SG: Tee-to-Green Rank Golfer 2 Paul Casey 4 Dustin Johnson 8 *Kevin Chappell 11 Luke List 13 Scott Piercy 15 *Bryson DeChambeau 18 Charles Howell III 19 *Kevin Streelman 20 Francesco Molinari 21 Zach Johnson 22 Adam Hadwin 23 Chesson Hadley 27 *Patrick Cantlay Scrambling Rank Golfer 3 *Kevin Streelman 5 *Kevin Na 6 *Aaron Baddeley 7 *Webb Simpson 8 Paul Casey 10 *Brian Gay 11 Cameron Smith 14 *Brandt Snedeker 26 *William McGirt 27 *Zach Johnson SG: Putting Rank Golfer 3 Greg Chalmers 7 *Brian Harman 8 *Kevin Kisner 9 *Whee Kim 10 *Webb Simpson 14 Dustin Johnson 14 Peter Malnati 16 *Wesley Bryan 17 *Graeme McDowell 20 Patton Kizzire 20 Emiliano Grillo 22 *Matt Kuchar 25 *Luke Donald Par-4 Scoring Rank Golfer 3 Dustin Johnson 9 *Marc Leishman 11 Cameron Smith 11 *Kevin Chappell 11 Ryan Palmer 11 *Brian Harman 17 Scott Piercy 17 *Kevin Streelman 17 Patton Kizzire 22 *Ben Martin 22 Tyrrell Hatton 22 *Stewart Cink 22 Emiliano Grillo 22 *Zach Johnson 22 *Webb Simpson Harbour Town Golf Links will require plenty of patience, skill and a bit of target golf, just as Pete Dye would prefer. Usually this was a track where similar to last week would require a few loops in tournament play to get it figured out. Tell that to the rookie who won last year and the other three in the top 10! As with any great course, multiple styles should be able to flourish and the three winners above confirm that theory. Coastal golf will always involve a bit of wind and weather just as Dye courses will make players think twice before pulling the trigger. With the extra sun and wind a firm and fast track can develop. The TifEagle Bermuda greens are some of the smallest on TOUR (think Pebble Beach) and have annually been the toughest to hit on TOUR. Installed after the 2015 edition, they have one more year of growth in their roots and should be more receptive. Once aboard players will have to handle the humps and bumps that come with Dye-Nicklaus designs. If the overhanging trees, small greens and Dye design angles aren’t enough there are 54 bunkers and 12 water hazards also to navigate. Speaking of navigating, I’m leaning back on the players who have been rolling lately with a sprinkle of the veterans, not the other way around. The other very interesting angle this week is how those who played 72 holes at Augusta hold up over 72 holes this week. Sure, it’s a flat, coastal walk but I have the feeling this is one that they’ll take for the team. Be warned. Course Ratings: 2015: 26th-most difficult of 52 played; -0.51 strokes below par. 2016: eighth-most difficult of 50 played; +1.285 strokes above par. 2017: 29th-most difficult of 50 played; -0.324 strokes below par. Rob Bolton’s Power Rankings will give you more juice for the week so make sure you stop by. It’s also who I trust with the weather each week so pay attention! NOTE: The groups below are comprehensive to assist in data mining. Inclusion doesn’t imply automatic endorsement in every fantasy game as all decisions are specific to your situation. CONFIDENCE MEN Selected golfers with multiple cuts made sorted by rank on the tournament’s money list. BUILDING CONFIDENCE Sorted by best finish, selected golfers who are either finally finding form on the course or are still relatively new to the tournament but have enjoyed some success. OTHER SIGNS OF CONFIDENCE Sorted by most recent top 10s, selected golfers for whom it’s been a few years since their last.

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CROMWELL, Conn. – Give yourself a gold star – heck, two or three gold stars – if you can remember that time from 11 years ago when we had Zack Sucher sharing a golf stage with Andrew Putnam. It was the 33rd U.S. vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship at Tokyo Golf Club and while the 37-23 victory that Sucher and Putnam and teammates such as Kevin O’Connell, Lizette Salas and Sydnee Michaels recorded gathered very little fanfare, it served as a launching pad for pro golf careers that have been a series of ups and downs. The most recent upswing? This week’s Travelers Championship where the 32-year-old Sucher – he of the last-minute spot in the field via the sponsor’s invite to a Korn Ferry Tour member – had an eagle and three birdies over his final six holes at TPC River Highlands to shoot a second-round 5-under 65 to push to 11-under 129. That Sucher’s lead was threatened by Putnam, who started his second round in the afternoon with five birdies in seven holes before cooling off, was secondary to this storyline: Where has Zack Sucher been and what is he doing in contention at the Travelers Championship? The smile and Sucher’s answer provided a lot of insight. “First year I can remember in a long time where I’m pain-free and it’s feeling really good. It’s nice to be out here,� said Sucher, who missed the cut in a Korn Ferry Tour stop in Springfield, Ill., and drove here, assuming he had a good chance to get that sponsor’s spot. His gut feeling has played out nicely, in stark contrast to the way his life has gone since he left the Travelers Championship in 2017. He missed the cut, played in an outing, but had had enough of constant pain in his left leg. He knew the knee was an issue, but it turns out “his ankle was a mess,� said his wife, Courtney. Major surgery on the ankle and the knee sidelined Sucher for more than a year and the return to competition has been a mixed bag. In 10 Korn Ferry Tour tournaments Sucher has two top 10s, but in three PGA TOUR starts he’s missed one cut and finished T-35 and T-50. In other words, nothing to make Sucher feel that he was ready to break out at TPC River Highlands, but he’s played plenty of competitive golf to know it’s a landscape that cannot be explained. “The last few years I had on the (Korn Ferry Tour) were a bit of a struggle,� said Sucher, who has a win and 13 other top 10s on that circuit. “And every time I made it here (he’s had PGA TOUR status in 2015 and 2017), it seemed the harder I worked, the more the left leg would hurt.� An Atlanta native who played at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Sucher gushes about doctors who repaired “two ligaments and a tendon in the ankle� and his knee problems. He even got plantar fasciitis in his right foot, said Courtney, shaking her head, recalling the mishap that occurred when her husband was shooting hoops during recovery. That injury probably wouldn’t surprise those who know that Sucher was a high school basketball standout at St. Paul’s Episcopal in Mobile, Ala., and were he “a foot taller,� golf might not have been his calling. But at 6-foot, 210 pounds, Sucher faded from hoops and settled into this competitive PGA TOUR landscape. Despite all the missed cuts and surgeries and tough times, Sucher can smile, and so can Courtney, who has walked 36 holes in wet, muddy conditions to watch her husband make 12 birdies against one lone bogey. Months ago he wasn’t sure he’d play again on the PGA TOUR and seven days ago he wasn’t sure he had a spot in this field, yet here he is, No. 505 in the world, setting the pace that those in the top 10, and everyone else, are trying to keep pace with. The beauty of sports, so unscripted and unexplainable, eh? “Absolutely. It feels great,� said Sucher, whose best finish in 35 PGA TOUR tournaments across three seasons is a tie for 20th at the 2015 Barracuda Championship. “A lot of work to be done, but right now it’s feeling great.�

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NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – Some players’ tee shots struggled to reach the fairway. Long-irons and woods were needed to get within shouting distance of the green … on par-4s. The most recent major champion watched an approach shot sail on the wind and land on the wrong green. After a morning that was docile enough to have one player dreaming of a sub-60 round, the afternoon of the Genesis Scottish Open was a struggle as the winds gusted off the Firth of Forth. Collin Morikawa didn’t hesitate when asked about the wildest shot he saw. It wasn’t one he hit and it barely got airborne, but it came to rest in a most unlikely spot. Matt Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris may have been separated by just a single shot in last month’s U.S. Open but their balls on the par-5 16th on Thursday were separated by the most miniscule of margins. Zalatoris’ chip on rolled across the green before hitting the hole. It slowed down until coming to rest atop the poker chip that Fitzpatrick uses to mark his ball. It was odd enough of an occurrence that Morikawa’s caddie, J.J. Jakovac, got down on one knee to snap a photo with his phone. In the morning, Cameron Tringale parred his final three holes for a 9-under 61 that gave him a three-shot lead. With the winds relatively manageable, Morikawa and Jakovac decided to leave the 5-wood in the bag instead of the lower-flying option of a 2-iron. “The 2-iron would have come in handy on the back nine,” Morikawa said with a smile. The Renaissance Club’s second half offers the best vistas of the Firth of Forth but that beauty also makes it brawny, leaving it more exposed to the high winds that are a trademark of golf in the game’s birthplace. This is the fourth edition of the Genesis Scottish Open played at The Renaissance Club. The first three were defined by benign conditions and low scores. The course fought back Thursday afternoon. A 66 from Kurt Kitayama was the best round from the afternoon wave by two shots. Only six players who teed off in the latter half of the draw shot under par, and only two shot lower than 69. Thirty-two players were in the red in the morning. The late starters’ scoring average of 73.5 was more than three strokes higher than the scoring average for the morning wave. Rickie Fowler, the 2015 Scottish Open champion, was among those who shot 69 in the afternoon. His 6-iron on the 147-yard, par-3 14th landed 20 yards short of his target. He needed a driver, 2-iron and 6-iron to reach the green on the par-5 16th, where many players struggled to reach the fairway. A driver and a 2-iron left him 30 yards short of the green on the par-4 finishing hole. The group of Fitzpatrick, Morikawa and Zalatoris represented the reigning champions of the U.S. Open and Open Championship, and the player who may be the TOUR’s best when conditions get tough. They all shot 71 on Thursday afternoon. “It was just knowing that you have to hit a great shot to hit it to 40 feet,” said Morikawa. Zalatoris, who ranks 16th on TOUR in driving distance, hit three 3-irons into par-4s, as well as a 3-wood. Fitzpatrick watched his tee shot on the par-3 12th catch a gust and sail into the middle of the adjoining 14th green. He took a drop off the putting surface, hit a 40-yard pitch over that green and an ancient wall to within 10 feet of the hole. He made the putt to save par. Justin Thomas shot 73, as did Hideki Matsuyama. Xander Schauffele shot 72. The rain that fell Wednesday made things even more difficult, making the course play longer and limiting players’ ability to run the ball along the ground. Winds of 15-20 mph are expected Friday, as well. “That’s links golf,” Zalatoris said. It is indeed.

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